Bollinger Shipyards inks deal to build US Navy’s new berthing barge

Bollinger Shipyards has been awarded a contract to build the US Navy’s seventh auxiliary personnel lighter – small (APL 73) class berthing and messing barge. 

As informed, the contract award is for a fixed-price option for the detailed design and construction of the vessel. Bollinger delivered APL 70 and 71—to the US Navy in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and is currently building APL 72.  

APLs are 269 feet long, 69 feet wide and have a draft of 7 feet. The vessels are fitted with mixed-gender berthing spaces for 74 officers and 537 enlisted personnel, for a total of 611 people.

Berthing barges are used by the navy to house crewmembers when ships are in port for availabilities and inter-deployment training cycles.

Bollinger tailors the barge’s mobility requirement into the design, to ensure they can be towed to new bases or shipyards to support changing fleet requirements. Such mobility offers additional capabilities to serve humanitarian missions and other temporary assignments.

“We’re honored to be entrusted by the U.S. Navy to continue building these critical vessels that improve the quality of life for our sailors,” said Ben Bordelon, President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards.

“We take great pride in every single vessel we build and deliver to the U.S. Navy. This contract reflects the relentless work ethic of our skilled workforce and their commitment to upholding the highest levels of quality and craftsmanship that our company was founded on and, 78-years later, remains dedicated to.”